Elk Grove Village, IL — Steiner Electric was recently presented the Affiliated Distributors’ (AD) Giving Back Award, during the AD National Meeting in Chicago. The “Spirit of Independence” awards banquet, recognizing those Distributors and Suppliers who have achieved outstanding performance during the previous calendar year. The Giving Back Award was created in 2010 to honor the many distributor and supplier community service, charitable and human interest projects throughout the industry.
Steiner was presented this prestigious award for their many years of dedication to the Chicago area homeless community through the creation of “The Greater Chicago Area Electrical Industry Friends of Comic Relief” back in 1991. What began as a local Comic Relief fundraiser, for health care for the homeless, was preceded by an afternoon Christmas party for over 300 homeless children. Even though the last fundraiser was in 1998, the children’s parties have continued for the past 22 years.
Today, Al Rzeczkowski and The Electrical Association of Chicago organize the Homeless Children’s Christmas Party. The entire event is fully financed and supported by annual donations from the electrical industry with additional Santa helpers from Boys Scout Troop 64 of Northbrook Illinois. The homeless children and their parents are bused in from seven different Chicagoland area homeless shelters and treated to a full turkey dinner, entertainment, and gifts for every child and parent, plus special gifts for each participating shelter ranging from new beds and linens to computers and printers. The Christmas party is an afternoon full of joy and hope among the families and volunteers.
“We recognize this award on behalf of our original co-founders, Jack Caveney Jr., past CEO of Panduit Corp. and Chuck Currie Jr., VP of Bill Casey Sales.” said Rick Kerman, CEO of Steiner Electric. “This significant acknowledgement is accepted on behalf of the many electrical distributors, rep agencies, electrical contractors and manufactures who participate each year to provide this special heartfelt event. Many of us are competitors but when it comes to supporting our communities we stand together.”
About Affiliated Distributors
Affiliated Distributors is a group of over 500 independent Electrical, Industrial, Plumbing, PVF, HVAC and Drywall distributors, with over 3,600 locations in three countries. Their accumulative annual sales exceeds $28 billion. Click here for blog, video and photos.
About Steiner Electric
Steiner was founded in 1916 and is ranked as one of the top 30 electrical distributors in the U.S. Original family owned and operated, the tradition continues with the fourth generation. Steiner has been driven by uncompromising integrity, quality and growth through dedicated people and resources for 98 years with the objective to provide solutions and services that help their customers be the very best for their customers.